SAN PATRICIO, Texas — COVID-19 vaccines are on the way any day now, and many health professionals and community leaders are stressing the need for people to understand that the vaccines are safe.
One local county judge who had COVID--19 said he is willing to take the new vaccine whenever it is approved.
"The major symptoms that I would show at that time was nausea, stomach nausea, like you had a stomach virus, and fatigue." San Patricio County Judge Krebs said. "I had severe fatigue if I would get up and walk 10 or 15 steps, that was all I could do.”
Both Krebs and his wife contracted the virus around November 3rd, he learned, after contact tracing pinpointed the person who likely infected him.
The Judge then apparently passed it along to his wife.
For the first 10 days, Krebs said, he lost his appetite for food. But once he came out of it he was hungry. His choice of meal? Whataburger, of course.
"When I got my appetite back I told my wife that I’m ready for a Whataburger," Krebs said. When asked if he wanted the junior or senior burger, he said he wanted two seniors- and ate them both.
"I haven’t eaten two senior Whataburgers since I was in high school. I ate both of them and an hour later I was ready for something else to eat," Krebs said.
Krebs says he finally made it back to work on November 30th. The only lingering effect of the virus is that he now seems to be hungry all the time.
He also said he's ready to be among the first to take the vaccine shot.
"As a County leader, I will take the vaccine when we get it here in the county because I think it’s my responsibility to show the constituents in the county that we need to get this under control, we don’t need to go through 2021 going through the same things were going through 2020," Krebs said.
”A lot of leaders have volunteered to step forward and demonstrate a willingness to take the vaccine and attest to its safety and so forth and I think that’s good," Dr. Scott Lillibridge, Emergency Director for the International Medical Corps said.
Lillibridge's organization had set up a tent outside of Shoreline hospital to help with our COVID-19 battle. But the group has since moved on to other parts of the country that are experiencing huge outbreaks of COVID-19.
Like the County Judge, this doctor also can’t wait for the vaccine and tells us he believes it’s safe.
"The two first vaccines that come out are a piece of the DNA to make some of the protein that will make you make antibodies. There’s no living component to any of it, a vastly improved safety margin with that.” Lillibridge said.
Dr. Lillibridge was concerned with people’s attitudes toward a vaccine. He pointed out that a poll before the election showed that only 40% of Americans trusted a vaccine but now those numbers have moved to between 60% and 70%.
The doctor says it’s important for people to believe in the vaccine so we can stop the spread of COVID-19 and get back to living normal lives.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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